Bahrain Airports Company (BAC) is well advanced with plans for further expansion at the international airport at Muharraq, in the north of the island, an official told AIN at MEBA 2012 in Dubai.

“Bahrain Airports Company is planning a major project to expand the passenger terminal building as well as a major service center,” said Mohamed Yousif Al-Binfalah, CEO of BAC. “We have already developed infrastructural plans. We hope that by 2013, we will begin the work.”

BAC was established in 2008 to manage and operate Bahrain International Airport and assumed management responsibility in 2010. It seeks to promote the aviation sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and enhance infrastructure for users of the facility

BIA’s $100 million terminal was inaugurated in 1994 with an expanded capacity of nine million passengers a year. Al-Binfalah said the airport’s capacity would eventually expand to 13.5 million passengers but did not specify a completion date.

“One of the purposes of this project is to sustain the competitive advantage that BIA has in the region in terms of the time it takes the passenger to go through all the checks,” Al-Binfalah said.

The airport offers cargo and catering services as well as aircraft engineering.

Shuttle services are available at the airport to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia via the King Fahd Causeway. Parking facilities have been augmented, smart-phone e-ticketing services installed, as well as e-facilities at airport access points. There are no slot restrictions at the airport during off-peak hours.

Bahrain Petroleum Company caters to over 60 percent of the aviation fuelling operations at the airport through its affiliate, Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company (BAFCO). BAFCO supplies jet A-1 aviation fuel, which is produced to international standards, the company said.

Established in 1990, Bahrain Duty Free is managed by Aer Rianta, the founders of the world’s first duty free stores. o